Westland's large areas of protected and relatively unmodified forest make it a center for avian diversity; as well as the more common forest species like tui (Prosthemadera novaseelandiae) and fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) there are around 28 species of threatened birds within the region including the endemic Okarito brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli EN) and, in South Westland, the Haast brown kiwi or tokoeka (Apteryx australis VU).

Thirteen species are endemic to the ecoregion, including the Truk monarch (Metabolus rugensis), the Pohnpei fantail (Rhipidura kubaryi), the Pohnpei mountain starling (Aplonis pelzeni), and the Pohnpei lory (Trichoglossus rubiginosus).

The white-browed fantail-flycatcher (_Rhipidura albifrontata_), which delights the inhabitants of Madras with its cheerful whistle of five or six notes, occurs on the Nilgiris, but is there largely replaced by an allied species -- the white-spotted fantail-flycatcher

Externally their colour always approximates closely to the bark of the branch on which they are placed; they are not thin, basket-like structures like those of _Aegithina_ or _Rhipidura_, but are fully ½ inch thick at the sides and probably ¾ inch thick at the bottom.